maintaining cage temp at night?

[diananana]

I have a few questions about what temp the cage should drop to at night, and how to maintain that temperature. I have a male veiled who's 4-5 months old, perhaps? (We're not sure exactly, could be a smidge younger). Right now, I have his cage at 79 degrees during the day in the basking spot, with night time drops towards about 65.

However, it's been cold this week, and the drops are starting to go closer to 60 than 65. This has me worried about winter, because I live in Massachusetts and don't have a lot of heat in my house. I'll just get a stronger bulb to maintain daytime temps, but at night it's likely to approach 55-65 on any given night. I'm a bit confused, because I've seen a huge range of tolerable nighttime temps for veileds, everything from 40 to 65.

My questions are really 1) What's an acceptable temperature range for juvenile male veileds at night, and 2) How do I maintain that in a relatively cold house? A space heater or something? Thanks everyone!!!

 

[jannb]

Welcome to the forums. I'm attaching my blog for new keepers for you below. At four to five months old he should be basking at 84 to 85. If you don't allow him to warm up then he will not be able to digest his food properly. They need a ten degree (or a little more) drop in the temp. at night. I personally would'd allow him to get below 65 at night. If you need night heat to keep him at that temp you will need to buy a ceramic bulb like this one. http://www.lllreptile.com/products/34-zoo-med-60-watt-ceramic-heater

https://www.chameleonforums.com/blo...-keepers-young-veiled-panther-chameleons.html

 

[diananana]

Thank you! That bulb looks perfect, and isn't even too expensive!

Thanks for the info abt basking temp, another member on here had told me it was too high when I had it at 85, so I think I'll just split the difference and keep it at 82. Seems like that should keep my little guy happy

 

[diananana]

Oh also! One more question. The humidity level in my tank's been a bit lower than ideal (55-60%, mostly), so I was wondering if it would be alright to wrap maybe 2 or 3 sides of the cage in saran wrap to keep up humidity (and maybe the temp as well)? I'd probably do the back and 1 of the sides, so that he still had plenty of ventilation. Thoughts?